Traffic signal and street light control system



Sept. 9, 1952 J. O'D. SHEPHERD 72,610,239

TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND STREET LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 7, 1948 4Sheets-Sheet l MASTER CONTROLLER l2 O :t

- SECONDARY CONTROLLER NTR.

0 OIL 42 E-W N-S p 1952 J. O'D. SHEPHERD 2,610,239

TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND STREET LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 7, 1948 4Sheets-Sheet 2 so! 1102 MASTER CONTROLLER NO.l OFF NO. 2 HR OFF SET TOOTHER SECONDARY SECONDARY CONTROLLERS TRO ER l O 9 INVEN TOR.

P 1952 J. OD. SHEPHERD 2,610,239

TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND STREET LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 7, 1948 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Q4405 F|G 3 I4O I J I LIGHTS 1 RESET NO. I I406 |420\ NO.x OFFET @MZI l40l MASTER CONTROLLER k TO OTHER SECONDARY CONTROLLERS CRSET SECONDARY CONTROLLER 1 I403 v I409 fi l4|8 CONTROL CIRCUIT NO. I I

OFF /ON IIso, I I

14160 I413 I4I4 INVENTOR.

P 1952 J. O'D. SHEPHERD 2,610,239

TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND STREET LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 7, 1948 4Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 4

MASTER CONTROLLER SECONDARY CONTROLLER CONTROL CIRCUIT 8| LIGHTSPatented Sept. 9, 1952 TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND STREET LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMJudson OD. Shepherd, Atlanta, Ga.

Application September 7, 1948, Serial No. 48,045

8 Claims.

'This invention relates to street traflic signal control systems and, inparticular, the turning on and oil of street illumination lights from acentral point as a part of such systems. This application is acontinuation in part of my pending application Serial No. 357,022 filedSeptember 16, 1940, now Patent No. 2,451,457, October 12, 1948.

The turning on and off of street illumination lights, includingso-called White-way lights, is presently generally effected by one ofseveral means. One arrangement is to extend the various light circuitsback to a power station or substation where each circuit may be manuallyclosed. This is employed particularly with light circuits in which thevarious lamps are connected in series, or individual lamps (or groupsthereof) are supplied from the secondary of transformers, the primariesof which are connected in the series circuit from the power station.This arrangement requires a separate circuit for each group ofindependently controlled lights, which extends back to the powerstation.

A second commonly used arrangement, particularly for white-way lights,is to have such lamps in limited areas, such as one side of a street forone or more blocks, connected in multiple with a switch (usually in thebase of one of the light standards) which is manually operable. Thisrequires that each such switch be visited in the early evening by anoperator to turn on the lights, and subsequently visited in order toturn off the lights, or two trips a day, seven days a week. This iscostly from the standpoint of the salary of the operator and due towastage of electricity, since it takes an operator some time-to make hisrounds and if the lights at the end of his tour are turned on atprecisely the right time (as frequently designated by local law), it isinevitaole that'the remainder of the lights-of the system will have beenturned on too early.

A third arrangement employsa pilot or control circuit to actuateelectro-magnetic circuit closers at the various points where power issupplied the lights of several circuits. This nerally requires aplurality of such circuits extended from a central control point to thewidely distributed circuit closers.

Still another scheme in use involves employment of a carrier currentarrangement in which a relatively high carrier frequency is transmittedover-the primary of the power distribution system; At each point where astreet light circuit is supplied, there is provided a detectorresponsive to receipt of the carrier current to actuate a circuit closerfor the light circuit. This arrangement is relatively costly and resultsin a l lights served by each primary circuit being turned onsimultaneously with the result of a sudden substantial load being addedto the circuit, whichmay adversely afiect the regulation of thatcircuit. 7

The present invention discloses a new and improved means foradministering city streets by providing street illumination lightcontrol by employment Of a street traffic signal controlsys-' tem forthis purpose, or certain of the elements of such a system. I

Street; trafiic control systems with centralized control employintersection or secondary control lers (frequently referred to assecondary timers) which control the signal lamps at the correspond ingintersections. These secondary controllers; as they generally will bereferred to, are connected in multiple to a master controller, or timer,by a few trunk conductors. These trunk conductors are employed tomaintain the intersection controllers in synchronism and predeterminedphase relation with respect to the master controller and, therefore,with respect to each other. In some systems, these trunk conductorsprovide for other functions, including total period control of thetrafiic cycle.

It is a general requirement of such centrallycontrolled systems thatthere shall be a shaft, dial or other element at each secondary controller which rotates or otherwise operates'in synchronism with acorresponding element at the- It is the common practice mastercontroller. that such an element rotates once each trafiic cycle andthat at a certain point or time during each cycle, the phase relation ofthe element of to establish a synchronous distributor system for theselective operation of street' illumination lights. Such a distributorsystem recognizes and makes use of the fact that a traflic'cycle m'ay bedivided into a plurality of separate tim'e intervals. At the mastercontroller are provided (for illustration) two pairs of contacts foreach street; light circuit controlled, which are "separately closed fora short interval at different particular the corresponding pair ofcontacts (lights off) at.

the master controller. At the secondary controller are two relays (orfunctionally similar elements), each connected to a corresponding one ofthe contact pairs, the first one adapted to close the street lightingcircuit and the second adapted to open it. A conductor connects thecontacts (through appropriate switch means) at the master controllerwith the aforesaid contacts at the intersection controllers. If it isdesired tol turn. the street lights on, the first mentioned contacts atthe master controller are connected to theaforementioned trunkconductor. When these contacts. are closed, current is transmittedforashort interval t the secondary controllers,v where the on contactsare coincidentally closed. This results in the relay operating whichturns on th'estreet lights, and this relay locks up, either electricallyor by mechanical means, to maintain thelightson. When it is desired toturn the lights 6n, the second set of contacts at the master controllerare connected to th trunk conductor. Subsequently, an impulse istransmitted to the secondary controllers to actuate the second (01f)relay or magnet to release the operated on relay to out 01f the streetlights coincident with theclosure of the second pair of contacts at thesecondary controller.

. Since there is a relatively long time interval lira trafiic. cycle(in. the general order of a minute or longer) thetime of the cycle maybe divided up into a plurality of controlintervals, with contacts;closed at such separate intervals to provide the selective turning onand ofi of a plurality of different street lighting circuits.

.eltwill'be seen that the above described principle permits theselective operation of one or mom-street" lighting circuits inconjunction with theqstreettraflic' control system by minor provisions;The cost and. other dimculties involved withcurrently employedarrangements are there by," traversed in. a simple and wholly practicalItzis a; feature of; this invention to provide meansat the mastercontroller to indicate visually the status;(whether' on or off) ofremote street light-circuits; and of the reset in which the trafficsignal; control system is operating.

Itis; also a feature to provide remote street light controlwith trafficcontrol systems in which variable offset of the secondary controllers iseffected'from the master controller by changing the pointat which thesecondary controllers; are resynchronized.

A still further feature is means to provide two short; impulses or othercircuit condition spaced at predetermined times or points during thetrafiic cycle in order to effect street light or sigreset control, withthe portion of the cycle intervening between said impulses determiningthe street light circuit. to be controlled and whether it is turned onor off, or. the resetv of thesecondary controllers whichiseffected. Bysuchuse'of two impulses, false operation of a street light circuit orreset is greatly minimized, particularly since itis disclosed that thepoints during the cycle of said impulses have such relationship witheach other as practically to preclude accidental impulse conditions atthe secondary controller having such relationship.

These and other features of the invention will be understood from thedrawings and specification Which follows. I

In describing this invention, it will beunderstood that reference tostreet light circuit No. l (or No. 2), for example, may indicate eithera circuit individual to a particular secondary controller orit mayrepresent a class of circuits. By class of circuits is meant, forexample, the circuits for street intersection illumination lights whichburn all night and which may be controlled" bya plurality of secondarycontrollers throughout the system, but which may be referred to hereinas circuit No. 1, notwithstanding there being separatelindividualcircuits with power supplied from a plurality of points.

Mention hereinof reset may indicate I any, secondary controller functionsuch as change ofis'et, discontinuance of traffic signal light display,and other functions as set out in my afore' said prior patent.

This invention is Set out by four figures. ofv drawings which areessentially circuit schematics with the inclusion of representations ofcertain of the mechanical elements employed in connect tion therewith.The mechanical arrangements generally are" expanded better to: showtheir: tune" tional relationships. V

Figure 1 shows the'basic arrangement forse? lecting and controllingfrom;amaster'controller either of two separate. street li'ght' circuits?through the agency of secondary controllers.

Figure 2 discloses streetlight control ast'emi ployed in connection.with the traflic signal'con' trol systemof my aforesaid prior" patent;v

Figure 3 shows arrangements" for controlling street lights and resettingtraific signals. fromflia: master controller with means at the latter togive indication of the statu'sof operation of the secondary controllers;and means toprotectth'e sys= tem from false operation.

Figure? 4 discloses application of street light operation. to secondarycontrollers of"a"trafiiic' control system havin'g'arrangements'forvari'a'ble offset by changing the resynchronizingpointsidfthesecondarycontrollers:

FIGURE 1 Figure I isva-a general disclosure ofthis invent-p tionasempIOye'd with a trafiic signala contror system employing a shaft atthe master'con=-. troller and one at each: secondary controller foractuating the signal lamps. for maintaining the. controllers insynchronism, for total period control, and for other features ofa-tralficcone-- trol system are well understood. by -;those prac ticedin this art. Reference will be made laten however, to certain priorpatents. disclosing certain of the arrangements mentioned-immediatelyabove. w

The master controller elements'lrelated tkithe 1 functioning of thetraffic; signal control. and maintenance of the intersection controllersin; synchronism are. generally designated I l. This includes a drivingmotor supplied from power terminals [2 and 13. Once each traflic cyclethe synchronism of the intersection controllers is checked by a circuitover trunk conductors RS (resynchronizing) actuated by controllerelements H. A common return trunk conductor CR (which may be the groundof the power system) is provided. Conductor PC (period control) isrepresentative of one or more conductors which may be employed tocontrol the total period of the traffic cycle by means included inrepresentationll.

A shaft i4 is provided upon which is mounted a master controller dialrepresented by IE to provide trafllc control functions or other purposewhich is usually found in systems of this character. Shaft I4 is driven(at an adjustable speed, if desired) by the aforesaid motor once eachcycle of the traffic system. Attached also to this shaft are fourcontact actuators represented by discs or dials l6, H, 18 and [9. Eachof these discs has an actuating shoulder or cam I6, [1, I8 and I9,respectively. Each of these cams is adapted to close an associated pairof contacts 26, 21, 28 and 29, respectively, each revolution of shaft14. It is to be noted that the cams are displaced with respect to eachother, so that contact pairs 26, 21, 28 and 29 are closed in sequence,and it is to be further observed that only one pair of contacts isclosed at any time.

Figure 1 provides for the independent centre of two separate streetlighting circuits, generally designated No. l and No. 2. One of thesecircuits is controlled by cams l6 and I1 and their associated contactpairs 26 and 2'1, with cam l6 and contacts 26 being efiective to controlthe turning oif of the lights of circuit No. 1, and cam I1 and contacts21 function to control the turning on of the lights of this circuit.Cams l8 and [9 with their associated contacts similarly control thelights of circuit No. 2.

The upper contacts of each pair of master controller contacts areconnected to power terminal l2. The lower contacts 26 and 21 areconnected to contacts of manually operable switch 30, and lower contacts28 and 29 are similarly connected to switch 3|. Each of these switcheshas a neutral position (as shown), and each may be actuated manually toclose either of its associated switch contacts, and will remain ineither of its three operative positions. The moving member of each ofthese switches is connected to trunk conductor SL (street light) "whichextends to the secondary controllers.

At each secondary controller are elements related to the functioning ofthe controller to actuate the lamp circuits for signals 42, maintenanceof these controllers in synchronism with the master controller andprovision of total period control, and these elements are generallydesig nated 41. This representation includes a driving motor which maybe supplied from local power terminals 43 and 44. A shaft 40 is drivenby latter said motor in synchronism with, and predetermined fixed phaserelation to, shaft 14 at the master controller. Attached to this shaftis dial 46, usually employed with controllers of this class to effectvarious control operations such as the establishment of the relativedisplays of go to the main and side streets. Since these functions maybe variously provided as known to the art and since the particularmethod of providing them is not significant to the understanding of thisinvention, merely the dial 46 and the control elements 4| are generallydesignated.

Ailixed to shaft 40 are four contactaeoiators represented by discs ordials 46, 41, 48 and 49. These have actuating cams 46', 41', 48 and 49"for contact pairs 56, 51, 58 and 59, respectively. This arrangement ofdiscs, cams and contacts may be identical with those at the master con--troller. The upper one of each contact pair is connected to trunkconductor SL. The lower contact of pair 51 is connected to the windingof relay 6?. With this relay operated, a circuit may be traced frompower terminal 43, the armature and contact of relay 6'! to streetlighting circuit No. 1 having one or more street illumination lamps l l,to the other power terminal 44, causing the lamps of circuit No. 1 to belighted. When relay 6! operates, it is mechanically locked operated withits contacts closed by means or latch 66'. This latch may be withdrawnto release relay 6'! by energizing magnet 65, one side of the winding ofwhich is connected to the lower' contact of pair 56.

A corresponding arrangement is provided for lighting circuit No. 2, andincludes an operating relay 69 which looks up when operated undercontrol of a latch which may be withdrawn to release it by energizingmagnet 68. One end of the winding of relay 69 is connected to the lowercontact of pair 59 and an end of the winding of magnet 58 is connectedto the lower contact of pair 58. The opposite ends of the windings ofthe two relays and the two magnets are connected to the common returnconductor CR.

Street lighting circuits frequently carry relatively high currents orhigh voltages, and it may not be desirable or economical to control suchcircuits directly by means of small relays in the secondary controllerhousing, as is contemplated for relays 6'! and 69. Lighting circuit No.2 is shown controlled indirectly by relay 69 by employment of contactor69 connected to the contacts of this relay. Thiscontactor may beseparately housed, as in the base of a street lighting standard or pole,and may be operated to complete an obvious circuit from separate powersupply terminals 14 and 15 to a plurality of lamps 12. It is obviousthat a series instead of a parallel lighting circuit may be similarlycontrolled. A separately manually operable switch 73 may be provided toturn on the street lamps by operating contactor 69' over an obviouscircuit for testing Operation of Figure 1 Let it be assumed that it isdesired to turn on the lights of lighting circuit No. 1. At the mastercontroller, switch 30 is manually thrown to the right or on position.When cam l1 causes closure of contacts'2l, a circuit may be traced frompower terminal [2, contacts 21, switch 30 over trunk conductor SL. Ateach secondary controller, contacts 51 will be closed simultaneouslywith the closure of contacts 21 at the master controller, so the circuitextended over conductor SL may now be traced through closed contacts 51,the winding of relay 67, the common return trunk conductor CR. to theother power terminal I3, thereby causing relay 6'! to operate and toother of the various elements of my aforesaid prior patent, includingthe drum controller for actuating the signal lamps with its associatedelements, the reset shaft with its associated elements, the clutch withits control arrangements for changing the controller ofiset, means foreffooting group control whereby the signals may be controlledindependently in either of three separate groups, and other elements thepurposes of which, and the arrangements for accomplishing thesepurposes, will be understood by reference to my aforesaid patent. Someof the detail elements and mechanism have, however, been separatelyshown in Fig. 2 for a better understanding of the relation betweenstreet light and trailic signal control.

The group in which a particular secondary controller will function ispredetermined by the position of lever I04, which is shown in positionG2, indicating that the particular controller now being considered isfunctionin in group 2. Lever I04 may be manually positioned and lockedfor group 1 or group 3, if it is desired to change the functioning ofthis controller to those groups. This lever controls circuit elements ofI402 by means of a rod extending through shaft 20I, which is hollow.

Each, or certain selected, secondary controllers may be specially resetby means of a key I located in either of three radial slots of dial I02.This key has an actuating shoulder 223 adapted to engage and closeeither one of contact pairs 224, 225 or 226 depending upon thelongitudinal position of said key. It is shown in position to closecontacts 225 once each trafiic cycle, 1. e., once each rotation of shaft20I and dial I02, at a time during the rotation of the dial determinedby the particular slot which it is in. This provides special resets asbrought out in my aforesaid patent.

Four other pairs of contacts are provided for control of two separatestreet lighting circuits, and the upper contacts of these pairs areconnected in multiple to conductor I I50 which is also connected to theupper contacts of pairs 224, 225 and 226. Contacts I I00 are employed ina circuit to turn on the lights I I I0 of lighting circuit No. 2, whilecontacts H05 are employed in a circuit to turn them off. Likewise,contacts IIIE are in a circuit to turn on lights I I20 of circuit No l,and contacts Hi5 are in a circuit to turn them off. The interrelation ofrelay H01 and its unlatching magnet H08, and the local street lightingcircuit, are similar to those shown for corresponding elements ofFig. 1. A separate conta ctor and separate power supply may be used aswith Fig. 1 instead of the direct operation of the lights as shown byFig. 2.

It is Well known in this and related arts that relays may bemechanically latched in their operated position or they may beelectrically locked up. The control of street lighting circuit No. 1 isshown, for illustration, as being effected through the agency of anelectrical look-up circuit. Relay I I2! in its operated positioncompletes street lighting circuit No. 1. This relay has two windings,the upper of which is connected to contacts I I I6 to operate the relaywhile the lower winding is connected to its lower front contact. If thisrelay is operated, a circuit may be traced from power terminal T03,which is assumed to be the ungrounded side of an A. C. power source,rectifier H29, the lower'winding of relay H21, its

' lower front contact and armature, the back contact and armature ofrelay I I20 to grounded prevents relay H21 acting as a transformer but,

by proper design of this relay, the rectifier may be omitted. Shouldrelay H28 be operated with relay H21 in its operated position, thelocking circuit for the latter relay will be opened and it will bereleased. Relay I I28, consequently, pro vides electrically thefunctional equivalent of a latching magnet such as H08.

At the master controller are the various elements required for effectingthe various operations at the secondary controllers, controlling thetotal period of the cycle, driving the master controller, synchronismcontrol and other functions set out in my aforesaid patent, and theseelements have been generally designated H40. A shaft I401 (driven by themaster controller driving arrangements) rotates in synchronism with, andin predetermined phase relation to, the shafts 20I at the secondarycontrollers, and has aifixed to it disc 5I2 to control special resetsand disc I IN for street light control. Other discs, or the like, arealso mounted on this shaft but are included in representation H40. Inorder to simplify the drawing, the master controller is shown out ofphase with the secondary controller but both controllers are shown inphase from a control actuating standpoint.

Three holes are provided in disc 6I2, and a contact actuator 529 may bemanually positioned and locked in either of said holes. This actuator isadapted to open contacts 626 momentarily once each traific cycle; thatis, once each rotation of disc (H2 at a time during the cyclepredetermined by the position of actuator 629. These contacts arenormally short circuited by manual switch 021, so the cyclical openingof contacts 626 is normally ineffective.

Operation of Fig. 2

If it is desired to efiect a special reset as controlled by actuator 629in position 1 (as shown), switch 621 is opened for at least the intervalduring which actuator 62!) will open contacts 620. A normally completedcircuit may be traced from power terminal 60I, switch 603, contacts 625,switch I I I I, a normally closed circuit (indicated by a dashed line)through H40, conductor SET, winding of relay I06, common returnconductor CR to the other power terminal 602, and this circuit ismomentarily opened When contacts 620 open. This results in the momentaryrelease of normally operated relay I06 at each secondary controller. Acircuit may now be traced at the particular controller underconsideration from power terminal I03, armature and front contacts ofnormally operated relay I05, the back contact of relay I05 (nowreleased), switch 'I2I, and conductor H50 to the upper contact of pair225. Due to the position of key I09 in slot No. 1 of dial I02, contacts225 are closed coincident witih the release of relay 106, since actuator629 at the master controller and key I09 at the secondary controller arein the same relative positions (No. 1). Consequently, the aforesaidcircuit traced to contacts 225 is extended through representation I402,including electro-responsive means, to the other local power terminalI04. This results in a special operation or reset of the secondarycontroller as predetermined by arrangements included in representationI402. It is evident that had key I09 been in its inner poilil .;sition.of slot :No.-.1,.conta'cts :225 wouldhave bee --clos eds upon release"of relay 10:3, and :a .difierent :special operation or .reset .ofthesecondary .con- 'rfil'OHfil' would have been. .efi'ected. .A third.su h

eselection controlled :by :key I I in its outer posi- 3 -thatWhen-contacts 1.103 are opened by actuator slalflll,ithelcircuitthroughtrunkeconductor SET-is ainterrupted emomentarily :to :release relay$7.06. {miS;I.BS1l1l7S,iaS}haS been described, in power fromtr-terminal: Hi3. :being extended via conductor 115,0 atoeupperccontacts.-of pair. Hi6. :Key I [40in (street light position :No.. l .of dial.ilflzrhaslan :actuating shoulder :L'Ml ..-which .closes contacts Hflcoincident zWith :this c release .of relay 3.106, 550 -.the latter.tracedicircuit islextendedrthroughqconetacts 11:] t6, the upper winding:ofy-relay H21 :to the other power :terminal 'i'fflLfiMiSiIlgsaidi-relay -;-to;operateand :lockupas has been described. resultsstreet lights ,I. I .of. circuit .No. 1 slicing-turned on .by an obviouscircuit through -ithauppencontactsioferelay let-21.

Whemit isidesired :to turn-off theilights. of .cirmun -2N0, 1, actuator11:02 aismoved-to position fofihaiorzlighting circuiteNoglondial H0].:The subsequent openinglofucontacts H03 with switch 4 H21 iopenwilllcause. relay 10.6. to :release .at the moment contacts :Islrlli-are.-c1osed;by: theishoulder H 4| of key I I40. It is to Joe noted thatcontacts II l5 are arrangedtmbeclosed and opened subsecue i o co t cts 1H 6 b in c se a d o en air sga singlerbroad shoulder 1.1.4.1is-efiective to oaratc vc o c tacts H16 and H 5 inseglucos and .the e oie performs rthe effective 'zliunctions of two .keys .by virtue ,of the.contact .design. A circuit .can now be traced throughg-haekr-contactslof momentarily released relay 106 16in a ;mannersimilar .tolthat described) closed contact n15, the winding .of lockingrelay H 23 .to the othe power te mi a 1 Th r su s vin e a s r ifieooerat n to ei ecteleasebfr y H21 Quit No.1.

. 111. senerall si a manne th stree l s t an t0 of .ci1it.;.NQ- 2 abe-turned on and 0 i themes ac ua o lQ i rnQ dt t ron .tPQ HJQE s o crcuit No- 2 an s itch H l l hooped so that the circui thr ugh n c o 555mo entar ly o e :to momen ri C illea eir ey mi hBre ea o zre aY l isoincident h the clo ure o contact 1. by shoul er 3 :lcey 11 to o eratere a 1 1.01 o on the igh s 1 I flzo 'circu tN .2- ;'i ar atu e .of :rel1| 0 :i latched mneraied- 1. en zi :i L QSiT d tto turned the :l t li h.raotuator Jim i mo e to "-oi fo the N ci cuit and sw tc .l ds-onened.Elb -resu in result th tur ing of of he .st e li hts 931 1111 hole -.thidia ,,.it wil a s car y the four holes. [or the Separate Ed .41 :E land I "I :t provide special reset an s eet li ht c ntrol. respectively.hav

beenshown to si p i y the p ana ion. .I is apparent that asingl d ma beemployed to .accomp shb th ctionsucha alm vshav i etuatorifiwwthasseciated.contacts 626 and .8 swi ch-r621. In addition to havingthree..or-.t e.-l ke;.1fo positioning actuator-Maor li e, in I proper-,relative positions (as shown. .;-on dial Hil for effe tin stre t lshtco t ol. Th

three special reset h les may be approp i tel designated on 1 the dialand the four street light holes may-also be appropriately designatedasto their on and. il funct ons, and e ch :pair. as .to

the street light circuit which they control. Itis,furthereyidentthatthese special resets and street light control .may beprovided :with an actuator located on er uoreset di l-0| l .ofmyaforesaid patentso that all selective signal and street light control-may be effected ,from the master controller by meansof actuators on asingle dialand a single set of. .normally closed contacts -s11 ,ch,. as

,groupsdependi g upon which of the three slots of dial 102 of the.secondary controllers-a key I09isplaced. Furthermore, the particularfunction ofeachsecondar controller for any special et maybenredetermined by the distan e key .109 .iscinsertedso that itmayactuate either its contacts 224, 220M325. It is mo ove dis osedherein'that two separate st e t l ht circ i s t each secondarycontroller may be independently turnedon oroffas desired, and suchturning on or off maybe effected without resetting or other- Wisealflecting thepperation of thetraific signal system- It is toberecognized that these arrangement are not limited to turning on and offtwo street lighting Circuits since it will be understood that FIGURE 3"The general arrangementshown by Fig. 2may be improved effectively toeliminate accidental operation of street light circuits or signaloperation resets by providing arrangements .requiring a-plurality o1properly; spaced circuit conditions to be transmitted from a mastercontroller, and such anarrangement is shown byrFig. 3. Some alternativearrangements of those previously described and additional features aredisclosed by @Fig. .2, including visual indication at the ,master.controller of thestatusof the street light circuits and the resetsinwhich the system is operating. Only ;those elements necessary for theunderstanding ofthepresent arrangement are shown .by Fig. 3. 1.;Ihecontroller drivingarrangements,

s ;s-. 1a il eht :c c contro and other ar an ements have been omitted,but will be understood 'as being provided.

cuit therefor being traceable from power terminal I404, the armature andfront contact of relay I402, conductor SET, the winding of relay I403,common return conductor CR (which may be the neutral of the powersystem) to the other power terminal I405.

To illustrate the fundamental operation of the arrangement are shownconductors extended from bank contacts Nos. 2 and 4 to contacts ofswitch I406, which has two positions to which it may be manuallyadjusted and in which it will remain- Switch I406 is illustrating thecontrol of street light circuit No. l. A pair of indicating lights I40!are arranged to indicate the'status of circuit No. 1, which is assumedto be open, so the off light is burning by a circuit which can be tracedfrom power terminal I404, the left hand member of switch I406, the oillamp of I40! to the other power terminal I405. A switch similar to I406with its associated lamps will be provided for each street light circuitwhich is controlled, with the right hand member of said switch arrangedselectively to complete circuits to either of a predetermined pair ofbank contacts. With switch I406 in the position shown, the wiper of bankI40I will be momentarily connected to power terminal I405 once eachcycle as it encounters bank terminal No. 2.

A switch I408, which is common to the master controller, is provided tocondition the secondary controllers for a street light circuit change ora traffic signal reset. When this switch is operated, it connects powerterminal I405 with bank terminal No. 1, so that this power connectionwill be encountered by the wiper once each cycle, it being recalled thata cycle with reference to the wiper is one-half cycle of the system. Theresynchronizing moment during the traffic cycle is when the wiper is onbank terminal No. 24.

At the secondary controller is a circuit conditioning relay I409 whichlatches operated under control of magnet I4I0. Four circuit actuators orcontact closers are shown schematically as are mounted on a shaft whichconstantly rotates discs or dials I4! I, I4I2, I4I3 and I414, and thesein synchronism with, and in predetermined phase relation to, acorresponding shaft in each of the other secondary controllers and thewiper of bank I40I, it being recognized that 180 of rotation of thewiper is equivalent to 360 of the secondary controller contactactuators. Means not shown drives the shaft on which these actuators aremounted and maintains it in proper phase relation, as is disclosed inthe street traffic control art. Each actuator closes its associatedcontacts momentarily once each cycle at a predetermined time as effectedby the position of a cam such as MI I' on actuator MI I. More than fouractuators with associated contacts may be provided.

Actuator dial I4II with its cam MI I and contacts are provided primarilyto maintain the sec- 'ondary controller in proper synchronous relationwith respect to the master controller, and the upper set of contacts ofdial I4II are merely shown to indicate this function, and the familiarmeans for accomplishing it are omitted since they are well understoodand are disclosed by patents which will be subsequently cited. Theresynchronizing point in the cycle is when the master controller wiperis on bank terminal No. 24 as has been mentioned, and the designation 24on actuator I4II so indicates.

Dial I4I2 with its cam and contacts is employed for conditioning thesecondary controller for a street light operation or a signal reset. Ifrelay I403 is operated at the moment the contacts of dial I4I2 areclosed, a circuit may be traced from local power terminal I4 I 5, thearmature and contacts of relay I403, the now closed contacts of I4I2,the winding of relay I409 to the other power terminal MI 6, therebyoperating relay I409, which latches operated under control of releasemagnet I4I. With relay I409 latched operated, subsequent operations ofrelay I403 will cause a circuit to be extended from power terminal IMF),the armature and contacts of relay I403, the lower armature and frontcontact of relay I409 to conductor [I50 (which corresponds to conductorH50 of Fig. 2) and thence to one contact of each pair actuated by dialsor the like I4I3 and I4I4, and such other similar contacts which may beprovided. Contacts associated with dial I4I3 are closed in position No.2 as indicated by the designation beside the cam of this dial for streetlights off, and this occurs coincident with the wiper of the mastercontroller being on bank terminal No. 2. Likewise, the contacts of dialI4I4 are closed coincident with the wiper being on bank terminal No. 4for street lights on.

Operation of Fig. 3

Let it be assumed that the street lights of circuit No. l are to beturned on. Switch I408 is closed and switch I406 is moved to its righthand position. When the wiper reaches bank terminal No. l, relay 1402and, consequently, relay I403 will be operated while the contacts ofdial I4I2 are closed. It will be recalled that this will result in relayI409 operating and being latched up. When the wiper reaches bankterminal No. 4, relay I402 and then relay I403 will be operated, andthis will occur coincident with closure of the contacts of dial I4i4.The previously traced circuit to conductor I I50 will be extendedthrough the contacts of I4I4 to the control circuit designated I4II toresult in the lights I4I8 of circuit No. 1 being turned on by meansdescribed in connection with the prior figures of the drawings.

As the wiper traverses successive bank terminals, relays I402 and. I403will operate for each terminal connected to power terminal I405- througha switch such as I406. It will be recalled from what has been set outwith respect to prior figures of the drawing, the condition of each ofthe street lighting and reset circuits will be checked. Let it beassumed that after the wiper has passed bank terminal No. 4 and streetlighting circuit No. 1 has been turned on, switch I408 is restored toits normal open position. This will stop transmittal of the controlimpulses to the secondary controllers. When each controller reaches itsresynchronizing point (No. 24), the lower contacts of dial I4II willthen be closed (as shown). A circuit may now be traced from local powerterminal I4I5, the lower contacts of "will not be used. tzagainstaasecondary controller falling out of step xduringia .cycle when streetlight or reset oper-.

.. occur.

the, eenthatsthe .secpndarycontroller conditionay l 40,9.. isreleasedeach time the secondary controlle reaches ther svn r nizing pntabove, arrangement requires that the sec- .endary controllers beconditioned for a street light control operation or a resetat thebeginning o; f n y leand .thattheactual operation isseplitmtelyleftected. subsequently during the same ycle, Thecflnditioning function occurs. imme- -diatelyafter .resynchronizingoccurs, which is the time.durirxg the cycle when all .secondarycontrollers be expected to be. in synchronism. 111: also will be notedthat conditioning relay I 409 isreleased at the end .of each cycle, sothat upon npening-of switch-I408, the secondary controllers will-bedisabled for street light or reset operation after theresynchronizingpoint is reached. Subsequent operations .of relay I403 from any cause,such as 'reclosure of switch I408, during the next zcycle willxnotaffect the secodary controllers.

Ihefiisclosed arrangements provide for a secmndil oliection againstinadvertent street light hrresetpperation. This may be provided .byemvployi-ngposition :No. .1 .for conditioning the secondary xzontrollers.and effecting the control operations i;n.only the even numberedpositions albankterminals); the odd numbered terminals This providesprotection ationis beingefiected. Under this condition, the

xcontactsof I.4;I2;might be closed while relay I403 r-is'operated forone of the street light or reset operations to operate the conditioningrelay I409. With the secondary controller now rotating in synchronism,but improper phase relation, relay I403 will operate at various .timesas long as switch 1408 is closed. .But the impulse which .falselyoperated relay I403, andtherefore relay I 409, came froman evennumberedbank terminal .andI4I4 .wbeingclosed for .odd numbered imp-nlsesirom themaster controller. master. controller only transmits even numbered .Butthe operatingimpulses, so a .false operation will ,not As soon as thesecondary controller reachfis the .resynchronizing point, conditioning.:re1:ay. I409 will be .released, .asdescribed, and the secondarycontroller may he expected to function norma ly- In :orderto provideeven further assurance against false operation, I may provide a separate.dial with actuators adapted to complete .a .cirsuit from conductorIl-50of the-secondary con- -troller tooperate release magnet I4I0 forevery odd :numbered position (except No. 1) thereof.

.As .:a resultof this arrangement, receipt by a proper operation shouldnever receive an odd numbered impulseexcept in position No. .1, and

the receipt of such an impulse resultsin disabling ;(-by release ofrelay I403) the secondary control- .ler.for lightonreset control. Evenshould conductor SE'IAbe crossed with poweror relay I403 bestuckpperated, the .light and. reset .con-

vtrols-will.Ioedisabled-as soon (as the first odd numlbered position.('No, L3,)..is reachediby, thesecond- .arycontroller after relay I409Qperatedin position No. 1. zF'or still. further. protection, the firsteffective control position to .be usedmay .be No. .4 (instead of No. 2,as shown), orderto give the secondary controllers opportunity .torelease relay I409 in position :No..3,if the-circuit. through thecontacts of elay EMU-34s v-.c o ed hat 11 ;051- tion.

The selecting and effecting of various group -or special resets areillustrated :by. Fig. 3, :in which switch I420 controls reset No, X.There maybe one such switch for each. resellito be selected at :thesecondary controller, or P21137101 them, A signal lamp I42I-indicates,when lighted, that resetNo. X has been selected. The operation of thisarrangement is quite similar to. that previously described with respectto 3 iorstreet :light; control. -When,it. is desired to effect reset.N0.IX, switches -I-408 and I420 ,areclosed, When the wiper. of bankI:40I encounters terminal ,No. 1, each secondary controller conditioningrelay I409 is operated. When the wiperencounters bank terminal No.2;2,,relay I402. is operated by .a circuit from power terminal I405,the. left hand member of switch I420, bank terminal No. 22, the wiper,the lower member of switch I400, the winding of relay I 402 to the otherpower terminal I404. Theoperation of relay I402 results in theoperation. of. relay I403, as previously described,

which "connects power tothe selective control conductor H50. Contacts(not shown) .atthe secondary controller-are closed in positionNo. 22 toextend the :circuit .-from conductor I I50 to effect reset No. X as setout in connection with .Fig. .2 .andxas shown in detail :in myaforesaidprior patent. ylndicating lamp I42I will :be

.lighted over anobvious circuit. Aiteracomplete cycle, switch I408 maybereleased and-conditioning relay I 40.9 at :each secondary controllerwill be released when the resynchronizing point 'is reached.

While a separate switch. I 420 :is indicated "-for each reset, 'it is:apparent that any .convenient vided so "that any secondary controllermay be specially reset .in anyof a plurality ofpredeterminedmanners-without affecting other secondary controllers intheir functioning. in their'respective control groups.Thisisaccomplished from the master controller by'transmitting a signalto the secondary controller'at a time when either contacts 224, 225 or226 .of. Fig. 2 are closed, de-

pendent upon the desired "reset. operation. ..It is further indicated,in accordance with my aforesaid prior patentthat if a regular groupreset signal is transmitted while a controller in that groupisfunctioning for. a special reset, the lattercontrollerwill be resetto'the operationof its group. That is, when any special. reset iseffective, it is desirable notto transmit normal group reset signals tothe secondary controllers. In order to prevent such' signals andassuming that switch I420 is for a special reset selection, the latterswitch (and other, special reset switches) may be provided with anothercontact member to operate a relay which will disconnect from the bankterminals the conductors for the group resets. This'will prevent thetransmission of impulses for the regular group resets as the wipers arerotating while either a special reset is being selected or a streetlighting circuit is being controlled. V I

While a single bank with a double wiper is shown by Fig. 3, and onecycle of the secondary controllers corresponds to one-half revolution ofthe wiper, it will be understood that two banks with single wipers onthesame shaft may be used as is common with automatic telephony and otherarts. With such an arrangement, the two wipers are 180? apart and onlyone wiper engages its bank contacts at a time. This doubles the numberof separate bank terminals of a given size which are available forselective purposes, and enables the master 'controllerwiper shaft torotate at-the same speed as the secondary controller selecting(synchronous) shaft. It is to be understood that the disclosure of abank and wiper, ordouble bank and Wipers, is illustrative of anysuitable means for sequentially effecting circuit operations atpredetermined times during a cycle. A drum controller for this purposeis an obvious alternative.

It is recognized that the master controller lamp signal indications asshown by Fig. 3 arise from operations to effect the remote functions incontradistinction to the result of such oper-' ations. It is to beunderstood in practicing this invention, a replica, -or replicas,'of asecondary controller may be provided at the master controller andconnected to the trunk conductors, and this replica provided withindicating lamps to show what street lighting circuit is on and thereset which is in effect. Such an arrangement will provide indicationsto disclose the result of the selective operations.

FIGURE 4 Some traiiic signal control systems in commercial use providefor the offset of the individual secondary controllers to beadjustedfrom the master controller. Thisienables a plurality of traffic fiowplans (say :three,;for illustration, to

be provided to facilitate the handling of the varying amounts of trafficin different directions which may occur at various times during the day.One familiar arrangement to effect this is to provide facilities wherebythe secondary controllers may be resynchronized at any one of which asecondary controller may operate with respect to the master controllermay be adjustably predetermined for each individual secondarycontroller. Leonard No. 2,328,473, August 31, 1943, is illustrative ofsuch a system. It will be recalled that a fundamental require- Thepatent to Vincent W.

18 ment of the present invention is to have an element at the master andeach secondary controller which operate in predetermined phase relationas well as Synchronism with each other so that light control contacts atboth. the master and all secondary controllers employed for street lightcontrol shall be concurrently operated momentarily during each trafiiccycle. But with three different adjustable offsets of controllers of thegeneral type of that disclosed in the Leonard patent, supra, suchnecessary predetermined phase relation is normally not provided, sospecial means may be employed with such a system to adapt it to streetlight control in accordance with the present invention. One

such means is disclosed by Fig. 4. The basic principle involved in thedisclosure of this figure is to effect street light control while allsecondary controllers are operating in the same reset, and to arrangethe secondary street light control contacts so that they will beoperated in proper phase relationship with respect to the correspondingcontacts of the master controller irrespective of the offset of thesecondary controller for that reset.

Each secondary controller is provided with a driving motor included inrepresentation I501 to drive controller shaft I502 one revolution eachtraffic cycle. The speed of shaft I502 may be varied under control ofthe master controller by known means including circuit conditions overone or more trunk conductors represented by designation PC. Affixed tothis shaft is dial I5II having two rows of radial slots I5I2 and I 5I3(indicated by dashed lines) with, say, 100 slots per row. This dial maybe similar to that of the aforesaid L'eonardpatent, and will carry six'keys (not shown) in the outer row of slots I512, five of these keysactuating momentarily contacts I5! I at times during the cyclepredetermined by the slots in which said keys are located, and contactsI5I8 are operated momentarily once each cycle. Connected to thesecontacts is a six-position drum controller with its contacts andstepping magnet generally designated I5I9 arranged to actuate signallamps I560 in accordance with the desired type of traffic cycle forwhich the drum controller is arranged. Since such arrangements aregenerally known and shown in the aforesaid Leonard patent, the detaildescription of them and their functions is unnecessary; Contacts I5I8maintain the drum controller in proper operating relation with dialI5II. Contacts I5I'I and l5I8 are shown out of their proper relation foroperation by the keys in the outer row of slots in order to simplify thedrawing, but such relation and the mechanical design will be understoodby the skilled in this art.

In the arrangement used for illustration, the shaft I582 is driven bythe motor of I50I through a normally closed electromagnetic clutch I503,which may be of conventional design. This clutch is opened uponenergization of its Winding to result in stopping the rotation of shaftI502. Known means may be provided to hold shaft 1502 when it isdisconnected from the motor by the clutch. Three pairs of normallyopened contacts I504, I505 and I506 are provided for offset selection,with one contact of each pair connected in multiple to the winding ofclutch I503. The other side of the clutch windingf is'connected togrounded power terminal I50'I'at the secondary controller. To simplifythis disclosure, it is assumed that the grounded side of the powersystem. isl'used as a,comm on.re-. turn for the controlsystem,

The upper. contacts. ofieachcontactpair. .I 50.4,. I 50; 5; and I 506.are connectedlto..trunkconductors. RSI RS2; and RS3; respectively, whichcorrespond to...resets (offsets)- No; 1', No.2 .andNo. 3.. In the. innerrow of slotsloffdial" I5'I I ,three keys. I5jI14; I 5I5 and. I510 maybe. inserted; That. is,. any? keyv may. be, inserted in. any slot. Each.of these keys. has anactuating shoulder for one pair of reset contacts.Key. I 514 hasshouder I5I4' toactuate contacts. I 504 atla1time duringthe cycle. dependin unon the slotindial. I 5| I in which-it is located.Likewise, shoulder; I5I5 of. key. I5I,5. will. close. contacts... I505,. and. shoulder I5 I 6. of 'key I5'I'5 will actuate contacts I506.Itwill be seen. that. the contactpairs. I50II, I505 and I 506 may, beclosed individually at. any time. during the. cycle as determinedbythelocationiof their.

correspondingkeysin the dial, and-these keys. at

eachsecond'aryi controller may-be located indif ferentslotsasrequiredforthe controllersto funce 1 tionto provide the three.trafific flow-plans-desired. since, as will be described-,these-three.- keys de-' termine the three resynchronizing points ofieachsecondary controller and,- thereiore', theoifset of each suchcontroller.

Atthe, master controllen'is dial I52-I.- with :contact actuator. I 522adapted: momentarily to open normally closed resynchronizing, contactpair I523=once eachtrafilce-cycle. Aswith Fig.2, the master andsecondary.v controllers are drawn. 180 mechanically out ofi-phase butare inphase-electrically; One. contact; of this pair is: connected to.powerv terminal I50 9 -andtheother. contact is connected to. the arm; t;manuallyadjustable;

switch I524, which-may; be positioned;0n either"of three. contactsor-terminals connected respec tivelyto thethreereset trunk conductors:RSI, RSt and. RS3.- The-switch is shown; connected to the..-con.tact forconductor-RS3: It.will 118186811 that power is normally: connected tothesecondary controllers over the latter: conductor: and. once; cyclethiscircuitismomentarily. interrupted by the openingiof contactsrl 52by: actuatorrl 522; It. will. be assumed; that'the. secondary con:trollers: are: operating; in :the third reset-r as cone.

trolled by the. circuitacondition over: conductorr RS3: At the.resynchronizing petition-this reset: (asdeterminedbst, thepositionoitkey =.I;5,I fizintdial current opening..- of: contacts 1523;:so the. clutch I503 will. remain deenergizedxand the; secondary;ontrollerwill. continue toibe; driven. Should :the. secondary controllerget :out oiproper Dhase -rela-. tion with the master controller,contacts I506: Willbfl. closed; without .theconcllrrent. opening ofcontacts I 523; andgunder-this condition av circuit; may-be traced frompowerterminal Ii509,.contacts. I 523; switch- I524,;. conductor R539 nowclosed contacts I 06, the winding 0f :clutch;. I50 3; to.;..the rounded:powerterminal' [501; which willresult in; the clutch, beingzenergizedto.stop-the. secondary controller withcontacts. I 505 closed." ithesecondevary controller will remain'stoppedauntil contacts I523 are opened,whereupon the clutch willbe deenergized and: the secondam controller;:willagain .be; driven in proper phasezrelati'onrmth the; mastercontroller;- Iffiitgisdesired; to change: the operation; ofi'the.v

systemito reset No. 1, switch; I524 isimovedito'it'sterminalconnecteditoconductor RSI Uporrtlia next. closure of. contacts;I504 by, the shoulder I 5L4? on keyl .ll.51.4,itfie clutchlmaghet willbe Ten.-

ergizeditostop ,the, dial Withcontacts I 504 closed, and Lthey,remaihclosedand'. the magnet en ergized until contacts. I523 are'opened, whereuponthe.secondaryccontroller will again bedriven inthelphase:relationtdetermined by the location oikey,l5l=4finithediall ItWillbe understood that each secondary controller-of the system willsimilarlybe reset; the time oftstopping and the duration thereoiofieachcontroll'er'bcing determined by. the. location. of. its=key l 5.I.4'.initsv dial.

Ina mannersimilar to that described above,re-

set No. 2 may be selected by moving switch'l525 to. its middlecontact,and the offset of each secondary, controller will. be established asdetermined-by, the location of its-key I5I 5 in itsv dial.

Itis .tovbe understood that the showing of av normally closedelectromagnetic clutch is merely indicative of-knownmeans for. effectingresynchronizationbetween a zsecondary and a mastercontroller.andalternative.means with contact arrangements or other.facilities for such means, which maybe different from contacts I504,I505 and. .I505 anditheir. actuators, may be employed.

The-alternatiye-meansmay include arrangements forstallingthe drivemotor, stopping it by means shai't- I 5-33eis dial- I535 containing asingle slot.

in whichzthe end ofkey I5I0 isinserted so that dial I5 34.-andactuator-dials- I 53I and I532 will rotate with shaft-I502zand dial I 5II in the phase relation-thereto. as .determined'by the location of keyI5I6 in diaL=I5I I-.

The streetelightsxand the controlcircuit therefor "may be similarto-the-disclosure of previous figures of the drawings; and these areindicated by representation I543. Contact pair I54I controls the turningofi andpair. I 542 the turning on of the street lights. A second lightcircuit may be separately controlled by two othercontact pairs closedbyactuatondialssimilarto I53I and I532 aswill be undertscoda-from whathas been previ'ously'setoun and the-breaks in shaft I 502 andhollow-shaft I533 indicate that; such additional dials etc., arecontemplated;

Streetlight control of Fig. 4

The fundamentalj arrangement. for. selectivelyturning; onrandoffmtthestreet. lights is similar tozthatdisclosediby Figa'l, and. need not beagain describeolinzdetail; Contactpairs I55Iand [552 at; thezrmasterrcontrollercontrol the turning 01f and. on of. thestreetlights, asselected by manual.

, the lamp control contacts at the various secondary controllers areclosed at the same time as corresponding master controller contacts. Thedisclosed solution to this problem is to effect streetlight controlwhile the system is operating in a particular one of its three resets,of which No. 3 is shown for illustration. This is accomplished by havingthe drive of the street light contact actuators effected by means ofextension of key I5 I 6, which determines the resynchronizing point forreset No. 3. Key I5I6 may be located in any desired slot of dial I5II asdetermined by the desired offset of a secondary controller for thisreset. to another slot from that shown for a different offset, the dialI534 with its' associated street light control actuator dials may berotated to the proper position so that the single slot in dial I534 willbe located opposite the end of key I5I6 in its new location so that thelatter key may then be pushed'through said slot to cause dial I 534 andits connected assembly to be driven in the relation to dial I5I I asdetermined by the slot therein in which key I5I5 is located. It is to benoted that with the secondary controller operating in reset No. 3, theclosure of contacts I536 will be concurrent with the opening of mastercontroller contacts I523, and cams I553 and I554 have fixed relationshipwith respect to actuator I522-on dial I52 I. It is .to be further notedthat irrespective of the slot in dial 1 5I I in which key I5I6 islocated, the street light contact actuatingdials I53I and I532'will havea fixed relation with respect to the latter key. It will be seen,therefore, that in reset No. 3, there is concurrent closure of contactpairs I54I and I542 at the secondary controllerand contact pairs I55Iand I552, respectively, at the. master controller.- This situationprevails-at all secondary controllers irrespective of the offset inwhich they operate for reset No. 3. i

It is to be understood that hollow. shaft I533 (or its equivalent) maybe manually shifted to its proper position for reset No. 3, and lockedin such position. by any suitable means. Any suitable arrangement forpositioning dials l53l and I532 in proper relation with respect to theresynchronizing point for reset No. 3 may be employed within the scopeofv this invention.

Since it is necessary for the. system to be operating in reset N0. 3 forstreet light control to be effected, means are provided to assure thatthe system is functioning in this, reset and to prevent effort tocontrol street lights while other resets are effective. This isaccomplished by having a switch arm I525 on the'same shaft with resetselector switch I524. When switch arm I524 is in the position shown toeffect resynchronizing for reset No. 3, switch arm I525 is in contactwith terminal I526 connected to power terminal I509. Arm I525 isconnected to the lower contacts of street light control contact pairsI55I and I552. is connected to the latter contacts for street lightcontrol only while the system is operating in reset No. 3. Movement ofswitch arm I524 to one of its other contacts will result in the powersupply to the street light control contacts being broken at contactI526, and the street light control arrangements are disabled except forreset No. 3.

It is to be recognized that the fundamental arrangement shown by Fig. 4of shifting contact If key'I5lS is changed It will be seen that power22, actuators, such as dials I53I and I532, to bear a predeterminedrelation to the resynchronizing point for reset No. 3 irrespective ofthe offset of that reset, provides means for effecting special resetswith controllers of this general type. The special resets may beselected by additional contact actuators on hollow shaft I533, so thesecontact actuators will always bear predetermined relationship to theresynchronizing point of the secondary controller for reset No. 3 andwill, therefore, bear predetermined relationship with respect to specialreset contact actuators on the shaft of the master controller, so thatspecial reset contact pairs at both the master and each secondarycontroller may be concurrently closed (or opened) as required forspecial reset operation in accordance with the principle set out in myaforesaid prior patent and indicated by Fig. 2, hereof.

GENERAL While two relays or a relay and a latch magnet are shown tocontrol the lighting circuit, these are representative of any suitablecontact closing and opening means for this purpose. Ratchet operateddevices employing a single magnet are well known and may be employed forthis purpose, and my aforesaid Patent No. 2,451,457 shows a principlewhich is available. Drum controller (D) of the latter patent'ismaintained in proper operating relation with respect to dial I03 byhaving the operating circuit for stepping magnet 'IOI controlled throughcontacts 138- of the drum controller. Application of this principie tothe present invention will require provision of a pair of streetlighting contacts which are closed, in say, odd numbered positions ofthe drum and opened in the even numbered ones. Contacts corresponding to138 will be transferred for each position of the drum. The upper one ofthe latter contacts will be connected to contacts 51 of the present Fig.l, and the lower ones connected to contacts 56. An impulse received overconductor SL while contacts 51 are closed will operate and release thestepping magnet to advance the drum to close the street'lighting circuitand also to transfer the magnet circuit to contacts 56. An impulsesubsequently received while contacts 56 are closed will result in thedrum being stepped to its next position to open the street lightingcircuit and to transfer the stepping magnet circuit to contacts 51. Inpracticing this invention, this principle may be more simply appliedthan by using a 6-position drum controller, and a two-positionarrangement may obviously be employed.

It has been mentioned above that the present invention is applicable tovarious known trafiic signal control systems and it has been furtherstated that certain elements appearing in certain of the figures arewell known and therefore have not been shown in detail. Certain of thesystems contemplated in the above include that disclosed in the patentto Bissell No. 1,929,378, October 3, 1933, which shows a resynchronizingsystem for a plurality of secondary controllers and total period controlby means of a bucking coil arrangement. A step-by-step system isdisclosed by Leonard No. 2,044,617, June 16, 1936. The Reid Patent No.2,236,299, March 25, 1941, shows a drum controller actuating arrangementemploying adjustable keys in a dial and a bucking coil to stop thesecondary controller at the resynchronizing point should it fall out ofproper phase relation with the master controller. Campbell et al. No.2,050,039 shows a system in which the total 25. at said mastercontroller to control the variation of energy transmitted to said remotestation.

5. In a control system, a circuit controller, a motor to drive saidcontroller in recurrent cycles, trafiic control signalling devicesconnected to and operated by said controller, a. circuit distributordriven cyclically by said motor to partially complete individualelectrical control circuits at predetermined parts of each of saidcycles, electroresponsive control means connected to certain of saidcircuits to variably control said controller to correspondingly controlthe operation of said signalling devices dependent upon the completionto said electro-responsive means of circuits through said distributor,electro-responsive street light control means connected to other of saidcontrol circuits and variably operated dependent upon the completion ofcircuits thereto through said distributor, street lights connected toand controlled by latter said means, a cyclically operated mastercontroller, circuit means interconnecting said master controller andsaid circuit controller, means including said circuit means for causingsaid circuit controller to operate in synchronism with and predeterminedphase relation to said master controller, and means operable at saidmaster controller and functioning over said interconnecting circuitmeans to selectively complete said control circuits through saiddistributor.

6. A control system for municipal streets including a master controllerprovided with a motor to drive it in recurrent cycles, a secondarycontroller provided with a motor to drive it in recurrent cycles,circuit means interconnecting said controllers, means including saidcircuit means to operate said secondary controller in synchronism andpredetermined phase relation with said master controller, trafiicsignalling devices connected to and operated cyclically by saidsecondary controller, an electrical circuit operatively connected tosaid secondary controller, electrical impulse responsive means in saidsecondary controller to selectively control the operation of saidsignalling devices and said electrical circuit, means in said secondarycontroller to operatively connect said impulse responsive means to saidcircuit means at predetermined parts of the cycle of said secondarycontroller, and means in said master controller to selectively transmitelectrical impulses over said circuit means to said secondary controllerat any of said predetermined parts of the cycle thereof.

7. A control system for municipal streets including a master controllerprovided with a motor to drive it in recurrent cycles, a secondarycontroller provided with a motor to drive it in recurrent cycles,circuit means interconnecting said controllers, means including saidcircuit means to operate said master controller and said secondarycontroller cyclically in synchronism and predetermined phase relationwith each other, traffic signalling devices connected to and operatedcyclically by said secondary controller,

a first electro-responsive device at said secondary controller tocontrol the operation of said trafiic signalling devices, an electricalcircuit to be controlled, a second electro-responsive device at saidsecondary controller to complete said electrical circuit upon operationof latter said device, means to lock latter said device operated undercontrol of a third electro-responsive device, circuit closing means tooperatively connect said electroresponsive devices to said circuit meansat individual predetermined parts of the cycle of said controllers, andmeans at the master controller to selectively transmit over said circuitmeans electrical impulses at any one of said predetermined parts of thecycle of operation of said controllers.

8. A control system for municipal streets including a master controllerdriven cyclically by a motor, a secondary controller driven cyclicallyby a motor, circuit means interconnecting said controllers, meansincluding said circuit means to operate said secondary controller insynchronism and predetermined phase relation with said mastercontroller, trafiic signalling devices connected to and operatedcyclically by said secondary controller, an electrical circuitoperatively connected to said secondary controller, electrical impulseresponsive means in said secondary controller to selectively control theoperation of said electrical circuit, means in said secondary controllerto operatively connect said impulse responsive means to said circuitmeans at predetermined parts of the cycle of said secondary controller,and means in said master controller to selectively transmit electricalimpulses over said circuit means to said secondary controller at any ofsaid predetermined parts of the cycle thereof.

JUDSON OD. SHEPHERD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date "1,587,122 Harlow June 1, 19261,645,956 Keyl Oct. 18, 1927 1,699,759 Shepherd Jan. 22, 1929 1,714,967Wensley May 28, 1929 1,871,636 Trogner Aug. 16, 1932 1,941,377 WoodworthDec. 26, 1933 2,195,642 De Larm Apr. 2, 1940 2,203,358 Koenig June 4,1940 2,229,097 Koenig Jan. 21, 1941 2,236,298 Reid Mar. 25, 19412,309,040 Boemle Jan. 19, 1943 2,451,457 Shepherd Oct. 12, 1948 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 5,094 Australia Dec. 7, 1926 of 1926

